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A CENTURY OF 
SILVERS MITHING 


<LsT3 



William B. H. Dowse 





CENTURY OF 
SILVER SMITHING/ 


Sfcrief Account 

of the .fnterestina CbeueloiMb&it of 
(ftwerware hHariufacture as CfeftectecL bn 
the (growth of an Organization 
that 'DVolv Oelehrates Its 
Qentenaru in this Shield 


TRADE MARK 



STERLING 


/ 

By 

PHILIP L. SNIFFING 


I92.4 

REED <5e BARTON 

SilAttrzSmilks gv > Established 18 If 

TAU NTON, MASS. 




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TSrs° 

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Copyright 1924 
Reed & Barton 


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APR -3 1324 1 

cU 777810 



'W) r \y 


FOREWORD 


Picture a quaint old curio shop hidden in a time- 
worn crumbling row of buildings in a spot long since 
forgotten by a busy city. Here inside the weather¬ 
beaten door, in a dingy darkened room, are rows on 
rows of rare old treasures fairly reeking in traditions. 

. . . Come with me and spend an hour with the past. 
Here Time speaks, for everything is old. These things 
we see are survivors of their time reclining now to pass 
on through the years the record of their part in prog¬ 
ress. Here is a wealth of history told in vivid language. 

Now uncover one by one the secrets these treasures 
hide behind their cloaks of dust and mildew. Most of 
them seem odd today yet each is an achievement of its 
time and a trophy to the builders of progress genera¬ 
tions ago. 

For what in all the world has more of interest to the 
lover of fine things than to travel back the years and 
study progress? 










A Century of 

SlLVERSMITHING 


In no other field of art or industry is there a more 
absorbing story of development than that of the 
art and manufacture of silverware. Tracing back a 
hundred years, we find a most interesting transition 
from the early silversmith whose trade came only from 
the very wealthy to the manufacturing institutions of 
today which supply about fifty million dollars' worth 
of silverware to the people of this country every year. 

It requires a long stretch of imagination to picture the 
conditions under which the early silversmiths struggled 
to win recognition for their wares,— to have them 
known as utilities for everyone rather than as luxuries 
for a select few. Today silverware is an everyday ne¬ 
cessity, used in various forms in the home of practically 
every family. It is a far cry from the time three or four 
generations ago when the pioneers of the industry in 
America were fighting foreign competition on the one 


[ 9 ] 





A CENTURY OF SILVERS MITHING 


hand and an utter lack of public appreciation on the 
other. 

The year 1924 appropriately marks the Centennial of 
the beginnings of silversmithing in America. For it was 
one hundred years ago that the pioneers of the craft, 
then more nearly an art, laid the foundations on which 
the present industry has grown. With this year the 
silverware business of Reed and Barton completes one 
hundred years of growth from the modest beginning of 
a small shop at Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1824 to a 
large and resourceful manufacturing institution in that 
same city today. 

It is much to have lived these hundred years, yet the 
true test of an institution is more than its age. The real 
test comes in the way that institution has grown and the 
manner in which it has written its growth into the prog¬ 
ress of the industry it represents. To have met this test 
and to now pass the hundredth year of service still re¬ 
taining all its youth and vision is an accomplishment 
achieved only through profiting by the experience that 
comes with every passing year. 

Turning back the pages to the setting of one hundred 
years ago, we find that those were troublous and trying 
years in America. The difficulties which confronted any 
new promotive effort in that time bring out in clear 
relief the courage and vision of Henry G. Reed and his 
associates who staked their faith in that small shop at 
Taunton. We find that the year 1824 is a memorable 
year in American industry and notable in the history 


[ 10 ] 


A C E N T U R Y O F 


SI LVERSMITHING 


41 



Henry G. Reed, 1810—1901 


[ H ] 







A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


of the country for the number of establishments which 
were started then. Even more worthy of note is the 
fact that many of those establishments were destined 
to play important parts in the prosperity of the nation 
in years to come. 

The new country had then passed the stages of long- 
drawn reconstruction following the years of war for 
independence and was now growing up into vigorous 
life. Among those pioneers who stood out as leaders of 
the time it was just as much a matter of patriotism to 
foster the nation's industrial independence as it had 
been fifty years earlier to fight for its political inde¬ 
pendence. For although in the period of 1824 this 
country produced most of its own raw materials, we 
were still greatly dependent upon Europe for a large 
part of our manufactured goods. 

To the able and far-sighted business men of that day 
this situation was anything but satisfying. Yet with all 
their well-directed and energetic efforts, the bitter 
opposition which they met and overcame today seems 
almost incredible. 

There are interesting records to show that Mr. Reed 
and the group who first conducted the business in Taun¬ 
ton were inspired largely by the spirit of patriotism. 
They believed that goods for the American market 
could be made in America by American workmen as well 
as or better than in other countries. Interesting stories 
are told of how they staked their faith and labor on that 
idea and how they gradually and through many hard- 


[ 12 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 



Charles E. Barton, 1812-1867 








[ 13 ] 



A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


ships won the public sympathy that gave them their 
right to grow. 


II 

Silversmithing as a trade was something new to the 
American people when this Taunton shop began the 
sale of the wares which were so painstakingly produced 
there. Although there were a scattered few who con¬ 
fined their efforts only to the manufacture of spoons and 
cups for wealthy local residents, and now and then to 
articles of church silver, this did not often yield a liveli¬ 
hood and the early silversmiths had generally to com¬ 
bine their craft with something else. Paul Revere, 
perhaps the best known of the early silversmiths, was a 
bronze founder and copper-plate engraver among other 
avocations. Many others were blacksmiths who made a 
few articles of silver now and then when the black- 
smithing business was dull. To differentiate between 
these two widely separated trades, they were known as 
blacksmiths and “whitesmiths” and, for a time, the 
early silversmiths were called by this name. Many 
others who supplied the limited pieces of silver service 
in use at the time were clock and watchmakers and 
repairers. 

Among those who laid the beginnings of the silver¬ 
ware industry here in Taunton, there was one who later 
gained fame in another field of American industry. This 


[ 14 ] 


A CENTURY 


OF SILVERS MITHING 



ft' ;! •> * ttti of Yi»l 2t. V . »* Sc<*>h4 Ms** i 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL OK PRACTH'AL INFORMATION. ART, SHKNlK, MECHANIC;’, CHEJIb’TRY. A\0 XANtFALTliRES. 


*>l. Nl.l. So, i#. 


NEW YORK, NOVEMBER S, 1S7<L 


r*a.?o fM'P aim* »•«*». 

1 



REED 4 BARTON S SILVER PLATE WORKS AT T*UNTON. MASS Jttee W 


[ 15 ] 



















































































































A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


was Isaac Babbitt, originally a manufacturing jeweler 
who, after a brief period of service with the founders of 
Reed and Barton, became interested in the properties 
of metals and made many researches in an effort to find 
the best possible alloy for Britannia ware. In the course 
of these researches he discovered the non-friction metal 
which was called Babbitt metal and which still bears his 
name. This was the pioneer of many similar metals used 
for bearings today. 

According to record, the first Britannia ware made in 
the United States was produced in a small shop near the 
jewelry store of Isaac Babbitt's uncle in Taunton, 
Massachusetts, in 1824. The first sheet of metal was 
rolled with a pair of jeweler's hand rolls, and it is not 
difficult to imagine the thrill of triumph in the minds of 
those pioneers when they found the result a success. 
As we study the histories of most great industries today 
and especially those which can show long records of 
service, the stories of the greatest interest are those of 
just such ventures of faith as this. 

Those were days crammed full of the exciting adven¬ 
ture of new accomplishments. The small shop was 
almost at once outgrown and a new location found in a 
fulling mill on Spring Street where there was power 
enough to run the heavy rolls required. For several years 
this shop was engaged as much in researches to find the 
best possible composition as in the production of goods. 
A policy had been adopted from the first which required 
that all metallic alloys be produced direct from the pig 


[ 16 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


metal and this has since been considered as typical of 
the elements that made the wares of those pioneer silver¬ 
smiths so well known for quality. 

At that time the output was chiefly inkstands, look- 
ing-gla ss frames and shaving boxes which were offered 
direct to the public and featured as American-made 
goods. “American Made” was a selling phrase then, the 
meaning of which we can hardly realize today for the 
battle between foreign and domestic manufacturers was 
in full swing and the appeal of American-made goods 
was an appeal to pride and to patriotism. Old account 
books, dating back to the first years of the Taunton 
shop, show numerous interesting items. There were 
special orders for “church cups,” tea pots, for which 
they were especially noted, pitchers, bowls and other 
wares in fashion at the time. 

After two years in the Spring Street mill, the power 
was again found insufficient and a mill was built on 
School Street where a James rotary engine, the first 
steam power in Taunton, was installed. Here better 
facilities for progress were offered, more equipment, 
more power and more room for growth. So now the firm 
was able to take the step toward which they had been 
looking,—the manufacture of tea ware. The results were 
particularly interesting. The first tea pot finished was 
displayed in their show window on Main Street, Taun¬ 
ton, where it attracted a great deal of attention as the 
first specimen of its kind to be made here in America. 
Eighteen sets were immediately ordered. 


[ 17 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 



Board, Including Meals, Averaged About $2.00 per Week in 1830 


These pots were fluted in a lead die, under a screw 
press and soldered by a hot blast from a charcoal stove. 
In design they were modeled after the patterns of 
Colonial silverware, well-proportioned and dignified, an 
ornament to the American home table for which they 
were destined to serve with growing popularity in years 
to come. With this success, the promise of the future 
became so evident that new capital was obtained and 
the enterprise grew rapidly, branching into the pro¬ 
duction of other wares, and winning recognition among 
other ways in the form of various prizes at the Bristol 
County Fair. 

Ill 

Conditions within the establishment during the 
years of early development, form a most absorbing 
contrast with those of the present and are worthy of 
review here because they were so typical of manufactur- 


[ is] 



A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


ing establishments of that time. There was little or no 
heat in any factory until about 1850. It is recorded that 
the suds and stale beer used in burnishing the ware often 
froze on the articles and water spilled on a bench or floor 
remained as ice until the weather allowed it to thaw. 
Steam heat was first used in cotton mills, partly because 
the cold retarded the processes of production by stiffen¬ 
ing the fingers of the operators and partly because it 
broke the threads of the materials. From this, the use of 
steam heat extended to other manufacturing establish¬ 
ments and finally to the homes. 

Old pay slips and record books of the time, which are 
still preserved among many other interesting documents 
in the historical files of Reed and Barton, reveal some 
noteworthy facts about the living and working condi¬ 
tions of that early period. The working hours in the 
establishment at that time were from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
from March 20 to September 20, with a half hour off 
for breakfast at 6.30 and an hour for dinner at 12. From 



Bills Were Paid by Checks Written on Small Slips of Paper 


[ 19 ] 




A CENTURY OF SILVERS M I T H I N G 



Two Pages from a Time Book , Kept by Mr. Reed in 1828 


September 20 to March 20, the hours were from sun¬ 
rise to 7.30 p.m. In the latter case the men had break¬ 
fast before coming to work. 

Apprentices were paid 31 cents per day, and the wages 
ranged from this sum up to $2.00 per day for the super¬ 
intendent. Board was $2.00 per week, including room 
and meals. Married men were paid, according to the 
custom of the time, at least in part by orders on the 
local stores. Wages were paid as a rule only quarterly, 
and the order slips were considered as advance payments 
pending the settlement. 

In 1832, eight years after the establishment was 
begun, a third move was necessary and resulted in the 
erection of the first of the present group of buildings, in 
what was then a suburb of Taunton called Hopewell, a 
significant name which soon gave way to that of Whit¬ 
ten ton. The new mill was 100x40 feet and is now at the 
north end of the west factory. 


[ 20 ] 














































A CENTURY OF SILVERS MITHING 


For the next few years, in common with industry all 
over the country, the manufacture of Britannia ware 
went very slowly. Mr. Reed kept the business going 
steadily, however, and continued his researches in the 
metals employed, to find an alloy nearer the ideal of 
perfection which he had in mind. Much of the business 
of the time was of an individual character,—articles 
for private account and a good deal of church silver. 
Both Mr. Reed and Mr. Barton worked at the bench 
with their employees, doing whatever had to be done. 
Mr. Barton and other salesmen often packed samples 
of the ware into an old chaise trunk, set out for Boston 
and drummed the city for trade. At other times they 
took a schooner from Taunton to New York. The same 
schooner carried the finished goods thither. Materials 
were ordered to come from Boston “by the next 
waggon.” 

By 1835 Mr. Reed had found an alloy which had “the 
right ring” to it and from that time on carried forward 
the business in ever-increasing prosperity. He had one 
requisite for his goods, which he made the foundation 
for their manufacture, and that was quality. He was 
never satisfied with anything less than the best, and 
he gave his own best towards it. A year or two later the 
Reed and Barton ware took the first medal at an ex¬ 
hibition of the American Institute in New York in 
competition with the best English manufacturers. This, 
of course, attracted a great deal of attention. During the 
exhibition, Mr. George Delavan, a prominent member 

[ 21 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


of the Institute, sent several pieces of the Reed and 
Barton ware, together with the same number of pieces 
of English manufacture, to the Secretary of the In¬ 
stitute, Mr. Wakeman, together with the following note: 

“I am satisfied that the Taunton ware will bear 
a favorable comparison with any in Europe for 
neatness and elegance of finish, and I beg leave to 
express my firm conviction that if such specimens 
of American manufacturers are properly encour¬ 
aged it will lead in a few years to the entire in¬ 
dependence of foreign nations for articles of 
necessity and use, and I trust the time has arrived 
when the experiment should be made.” 

Mr. Delavan also made a comparison of the prices 
for the articles in the two sets on exhibition, which 
were of approximately equal grade: 


Taunton Ware 
Coffee pot $2.65 

Sugar and cream pots 2.40 
Tea pot 1.78 


English Ware 
$4.06 
2.57 
2-53 


Total $6-83 $9.16 

The difference in favor of the Taunton ware was 
$2.33, which Mr. Delavan added, “every American 
ought to be proud of.” 

Reed and Barton in fact went on winning prizes at 
various expositions everywhere. In the years when 


[ 22 ] 




A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 



An Exhibit of Reed & Barton Wares at the International Exhibition in i8j6 

American industries were getting their start, such 
successes were the best possible foundation for sales and 
increased business. This is one characteristic of the 
early days of industry which is difficult to appreciate 
under the different methods prevailing today. 

An interesting story is told concerning a visit made by 
Edward Everett, when Governor of Massachusetts, on 
a visit to Taunton in 1838. There was a bill before the 


[ 23 ] 



A CENTURY OF SILVERS MITHING 



Taunton's Main Street in the Late Forties. The Business i 


General Court for the establishment of popular educa¬ 
tion in the Commonwealth and the Governor came to 
speak in its behalf. After his speech he visited the shop 
of Reed and Barton and became much interested in the 
manufacture of Britannia ware, especially noting its 
fine grade, the first which had competed successfully 
with that made by Dixon, of Sheffield, England. He 
was delighted with what he saw and praised the initia¬ 
tive and skill displayed most highly. After he had left, 
it occurred to someone that it would be a graceful act 


[ 24 ] 







A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 



\Reed Barton Began in the Building at the Extreme Right of the Picture 


to present him with a specimen of the firm's products. 
No sooner said than done, and a choice tea urn was 
packed carefully in a box and taken to the railroad 
station. There it was placed in the charge of Mr. George 
Bird, the conductor of the train on which the Governor 
was to return to Boston, with instructions to give it to 
Mr. Everett as he left the train. 


The following letter was promptly received by Messrs. 
Reed and Barton: 


[ 25 ] 





A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


Boston, 12 October, 1838. 

Gentlemen: 

On my arrival in Boston the conductor of the 
cars put into my possession a box containing an 
urn from your factory. I beg you to accept my 
sincere thanks for this beautiful present, highly 
valuable to me, not only as a convenient and useful 
article of furniture, reflecting great credit upon the 
skill to which the art has been brought in your 
establishment, but still more prized by me as a 
token of your kind regard. 

With best wishes for the success of your enter¬ 
prise I am, gentlemen, your obliged friend 

Edward Everett. 

In a manuscript book of reminiscences written by the 
son of one of the original employees of the plant, an 
apprentice taught by Mr. Reed himself, then workman 
at the bench, and later foreman, there is an interesting 
account of the plant of Reed and Barton, some twenty 
to twenty-five years after its inception. The two part¬ 
ners, Mr. Reed and Mr. Barton, lived on either side of 
a two-family tenement, one of a number erected for the 
establishment about 1840-45. The working hours had 
not changed but wages for skilled men had risen slightly 
and now ranged from $1.50 to $1.75 per day, while 
board was still $1.75 a week. A few small cylinder 
stoves had been installed with the benevolent intention 
of mitigating the cold, but the burnishing suds still 


[ 26 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


froze on the lathes if the weather were severe enough. 
The casting furnaces were run by wood fires and the 
mills were lighted by whale-oil lamps. A banjo-shaped 
lamp, using the same fuel with a blow-pipe attachment, 
was used for soldering. 


IV 

Mr. Reed found the electro-plating business was flour¬ 
ishing when the gold fever struck Taunton. A number of 
his best young men joined a company which chartered a 
sailing vessel and started for California by the long 
voyage around the Horn. Some of them, it is said, suc¬ 
ceeded; others decided that gold and silversmithing was 
better than digging for the precious metals and in time 
returned to their old jobs. Meanwhile Mr. Reed needed 
an increasing supply of workers to care for his expanding 
business, and so he did what was at the time considered 
a radical step—employed women. The importance of 
this is due to the fact that in 1849 there were few places 
in industry open to women. A few women had long been 
employed as solderers, one of them, Rebecca Robinson, 
having a reputation as a “character,” and considered 
the equal of any man in the shop. Others, chiefly wives 
and daughters of men employees, were employed on the 
lighter jobs, washing, packing,—if there was a rush of 
work. Then women became a regular part of the working 
force, doing anything that their ability and skill could 
accomplish. 


[ 27 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 



An Early Order Book , Showing Sales of Reed & Barton Wares in 1830 


There are many instances of the employment of 
several members of the same family in the shop, some¬ 
times of two or even three generations. Of course this 
was by no means uncommon in olden times but com¬ 
paratively rare in America. It speaks well for both 
employer and employees when such long-continued re¬ 
lations exist. Mr. Reed was noted for the personal 
care and instruction which he gave to those who were 
learning their trade in his shop. There was no time¬ 
keeper in the shop until about i860. The workers kept 
their own time and accounts of work done, turned 
them in to Mr. Reed, and settlements were made 
quarterly. It was the custom, although tending to die 
out, for men to be hired on yearly contracts. 


[ 28 ] 







A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 

Not only the working life, but the social life of the 
men and their families was bound up in the establish¬ 
ment, with the members of the firm and their families 
as the natural leaders, in almost feudal fashion. They 
took themselves and their traditions very seriously 
indeed. Evening parties among the young folk, result¬ 
ing naturally in clambakes and picnics in the summer, 
literary societies, debating clubs with sonorous names, 
like the Ciceronian Debating Club, political clubs, like 
the Young Whigs, later the Lincoln Club, gave variety 
and interest to the life of the little community. The 
funeral of a fellow-workman was an occasion of great 
solemnity. The shop closed, and all the men walked in 
procession to the grave, adorned with mourning bands 
in good old guild fashion. 

It was in September of 1848 that one of the most 
active political clubs among those recorded in the annals 
of Reed and Barton brought to Taunton a speaker from 
the Middle West. He was a man not then particularly 
known to fame, although heralded as a striking speaker, 
the possessor of a dry wit, and of a great sympathy for 
the common people, whom, he said, “the Lord must have 
loved, because He made so many of them.” It was a 
very hot night, and the hall where he gave his address 
was packed to suffocation. 

The tall Westerner walked on the platform, and say¬ 
ing that it was too hot to stand on ceremony, took off his 
coat and invited his hearers to do the same. It was a 
simple act, but it won the heart of every man who was 


[ 29 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERS MI THING 


hot and tired after his day's work, one of the many acts 
of kindness and simple democracy which made Abraham 
Lincoln the greatest of Americans. Taunton imme¬ 
diately took Lincoln to its heart and claimed him, if not 
as a native son, at least as a great-grandson, a descen¬ 
dant of the Lincoln family which had been one of the 
original settlers. In fact the works were built upon land 
once the property of the Lincoln family and the old 
Lincoln house still stands in the yard today. It has 
also a close association with the early days of Reed and 
Barton for Mr. Reed used the kitchen as the place 
where he compounded the famous lacquer, made by a 
private formula, which was used on the tea-pot handles 
in the first years of the firm’s existence. 

The men of Reed and Barton felt a special admiration 
for Lincoln. They attested their loyalty in the Civil 
War and were among the first to celebrate a flag-raising 
in the works yard about two weeks after the declaration 
of war, May i, 1861. There were speeches, patriotic 
songs, even an original poem, to express the patriotic 
fervor of the organization. The women trimmed the 
buildings with small flags flying from every window. 

V 

The electro-plate business, begun by Mr. Reed in the 
late forties, grew rapidly in the next decade. The country 
was growing more prosperous, and fashions were chang- 


[ 30 ] 


A CENTURY 


OF SILVERSMITHING 



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Lincoln Memorial Tablet , Designed and Produced by Reed 6 ? Barton 


ing. Silver was declining sharply in price, which brought 
its use within the reach of a larger number of people. 
Where previously knives and forks were made of steel 
with handles of bone, pearl or lacquered wood, the 
demand changed to such articles of flatware in silver 
plate, or at least with plated handles. Mr. Reed be¬ 
lieved that there were immense possibilities in develop¬ 
ing a line of electro-plated and commercial silverware 
for domestic use, in articles which should be of first 
quality in point of wear and service, well and tastefully 
designed, and sold at a price which would bring them 


[31 ] 















A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


within reach of the average purse. To this end Mr. Reed 
gave much time and thought. The shapes and patterns 
were created by the best designers with as much care 
and artistic effort as if they had been intended for 
sterling. Too often in those days articles low in price 
were needlessly ugly in design and carelessly made, but 
nothing of that sort was tolerated by Mr. Reed. The 
public seems to have appreciated the fact, for the busi¬ 
ness then started in this class of goods has remained 
a very large percentage of the yearly volume turned 
out by Reed and Barton. 

In the same decade Mr. Reed built up an interesting 
and profitable connection with South America. Much of 
it was in the goods for ordinary domestic use mentioned 
in the previous paragraph, and their excellence of 
pattern and workmanship made them very highly 
esteemed among the beauty-loving population of the 
southern continent. Another interesting phase of this 
South American business consisted of ecclesiastical sil¬ 
ver in wide variety, not only the smaller vessels, but 
numerous pieces of large size and highly ornate design, 
such as floor candlesticks and altar pieces, the latter 
with elaborate carving and designs in high relief, often 
worth many thousands of dollars. These, of course, 
were chiefly on special order. These and similar products 
of the Reed and Barton works brought the name to 
such a degree of favor that several of the Latin- 
American republics specified Reed and Barton silver¬ 
ware in their customs tariffs as the standard by which 


[ 32 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


other brands should be compared when assessing 
import duties. It was a noble compliment to Mr. 
Reed’s lifelong insistence upon quality which has always 
been remembered with just pride by the Company. 

We have spoken several times of the great care which 
Mr. Reed gave to the designing of his products. The 
buying public, which as a rule is interested only in 
results, knows little of this end of silver manufacture. 
Yet it is of first importance, as we have seen, in satisfy¬ 
ing the demands of a discriminating clientele. The 
success of Reed and Barton has been due in no small 
measure to the detailed attention which Mr. Reed and 
his successor Mr. Dowse have given to it. There is a 
somewhat popular impression that there is very little 
hand work done today upon silverware, in comparison 
with that in. the past. As a matter of fact there is a 
great deal more. The essential tools and processes of the 
craft have not changed in thousands of years. Even 
Saint Dunstan, the patron of all good craftsmen in 
silver, would find himself quite at home at a bench in 
Reed and Barton’s. 

The processes which are today carried on by means of 
mechanical power, rolling the metal into sheets and 
stamping out blanks, were in the past often done by 
apprentices operating hand rolls and presses or roughly 
hammered out by an assistant. The master smith put 
his time on the finishing. It was a slow and very ex¬ 
pensive process and results w T ere artistic or clumsy ac¬ 
cording to whether the smith was an artist or a dullard. 


[ 33 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERS MITHING 



Genuine Antiques—One of the Earliest Tea Sets, Produced About 1830 


It is by no means true that all silverware which is old 
is therefore well-designed and executed. Of course the 
products of the best workmen were in most demand 


[ 34 ] 











A CENTURY OF SILVERSMI THING 


but in the nature of the case only a few of the wealthiest 
could own them. Most of our common table implements, 
like silver or nickel-silver spoons, forks and knives, 
were never seen in the houses of any but the wealthy 
and great. Forks, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, were 
used only by royalty. The mass of her subjects cut their 
meat, and sometimes their enemies, with a short, 
broad-bladed knife which they stuck in their belts when 
not in use. Their spoons were wood or horn. Yet this 
was the heyday of silversmithing, the century of Ben¬ 
venuto Cellini and the period of Francis the First. 


VI 

We have said that there is far more hand work today 
in the manufacture of silver than there ever was in the 
past. In the making of a spoon, for instance, where once 
it was the work of one man, to be owned by one man, 
today the work is put first upon the design and the dies. 
This may take as long as a year, even in the case of a 
single spoon. The design drawn upon paper must be 
reproduced in wax, in plaster of paris, in silver or in a 
composition, to see exactly how it is going to look. A 
dozen different models may be made for one article 
with differences so slight as to be hardly discernible to 
the uninitiated eye. Yet the makers know that all the 
fine points which go to make a harmonious and beau¬ 
tiful spoon must be there if the design is to please the 


[ 35 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 

critical taste of the buying public. All the skill of brain 
and hand which the artist-artisan of old put uppn his 
single spoon are now lavished upon the design and dies 
from which countless exact reproductions are to be 
made. There is the same amount of craftsmanship em¬ 
ployed, only in the present method of manufacture it 

comes earlier in the pro¬ 
duction. 

Today there is a tre¬ 
mendous amount of pre¬ 
liminary work required 
and after this there still 
is no spoon ready to sell 
on the market. There 
has been a heavy invest¬ 
ment of time, material 
and labor which has 
mounted up into thousands of dollars with so far no 
return. The old silversmith would have been appalled; 
he could not have possibly afforded such an outlay. 
He would have been compelled to make many spoons 
in the same time, just to make his living. Upon no 
one, save perhaps a royal order, could he have af¬ 
forded to spend such minute and exquisite care as 
the modern silversmith spends with each model. Nor 
is this all. When the die is done, and the spoons, 
or whatever articles are made, are coming from the 
presses, there is still a great deal of hand finishing 
to be done. 



[ 36 ] 



A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


In making hollow ware, the chief difference between 
the work of the silversmiths of today and yesterday, 
save for the power which runs the presses upon which 
the blanks are given their rough form, is the superior 
skill of the modern craftsman. Pressing out the blank 
is, however, but the roughest beginning of the process. 
The addition of the ornament, from the spinning on a 
lathe to the chasing and repousse work, is all the work 
of the exquisitely trained fingers of the master work¬ 
man, using the same myriad little chisels and curious 
snarling irons which were perhaps invented by Vulcan, 
or some contemporary of his, in the Golden Age of the 
Olympians. 

In passing, there can hardly be omitted here some 
slight reference to the place of the silversmith in the 
history of civilization. The effect of beauty in softening 
and refining the less agreeable primitive instincts of 
man has been one important side of his contribution. 
The other is our whole system of banking and the ex¬ 
change of international credits. The goldsmiths and 
silversmiths were the first bankers and many of the 
craft attained to enormous power, like the great Medici 
family of Florence, whose craft sign of three golden 
balls is still seen in our cities. Another did business at 
the sign of the Red Shield and was the ancestor of the 
Rothschilds. The word sterlings whether used to in¬ 
dicate a certain fineness of silver or a money standard, 
came from a group of merchants from the cities around 
the Baltic Sea, known as the Easterlings. The silver 


[ 37 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


which they brought into England was always of a fixed 
quality, never allowed to deteriorate. Everyone knew 
what a pound of Easterling silver was worth. So “sterl¬ 
ing” became the standard of fineness, whether used in 
the arts or as money. It was a situation similar to that 
which transpired in Argentina by the silver from Reed 
and Barton, as we have seen above. 

Changing business conditions early made it advisable 
for Reed and Barton to become a corporation. After 
Mr. Barton’s death in 1867, his interest was purchased 
by Mr. Reed, who from that time on was practically 
sole proprietor of the business. When incorporation 
took place the business was capitalized at $600,000. 
Mr. Reed was president and continued to be the manag¬ 
ing head of the business up to his death at the ripe age 
of ninety-one years. 

Mr. Reed, like his wares, was a man of sterling 
quality. As a young man, he chose as his motto, “What¬ 
ever you are making, work as best you know how, be¬ 
lieving that you are producing, or trying to produce, 
the best of its kind in the world.” He believed that in 
his establishment there should always be in process of 
manufacture one piece of work of a superior nature, 
whose beauty and excellence of craftsmanship should 
be an inspiration and example to the whole organiza¬ 
tion, and in this, as in his designs, he was willing to 
spend money, without stint, to achieve perfection. His 
creed was simplicity of living. He never had any desire 
to display his success by the more extravagant 


[ 38 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMl THING 



The Wares Were Often Displayed to the Public in Very Unique Ways 


manner of living which so often characterizes the in¬ 
crease of a man’s wealth. Above all, he took a personal 
interest in his employees, and many are the stories of 
his unfailing kindness, from which there resulted a spirit 
of loyalty which twenty-five years after his death is 
yet the prevailing spirit of the establishment. 

In this connection, it would be out of place to pass 
this subject of loyalty without a mention of the record 
of service on the part of these employees, which has 
been a most important factor in the up-building and 
maintenance of the organization. The longest is that of 


[ 39 ] 






A CENTURY OF S1LVERSMITHING 



The Various Buildings in the Reed & Barton Factory Today Have a Total Floor Space Oj 


the founder and first president, Mr. Henry G. Reed, 
seventy-five years. The next is of an employee with a 
service of nearly seventy years. Besides these: 


9 

have 

a 

record of from 

5° 

to 

56 years 

7 

V 

V 


V V 

45 


50 


23 

V 

V 

V 

V » 

40 


45 

» 

13 

V 

» 

V 

» V 

35 


40 

n 

29 

V 

V 

V 

» V 

30 

V 

35 

V 

33 

V 

V 

V 

n v 

25 

n 

30 

» 





[40] 










A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 



325,000 Square Feet. This Picture Shows the Main Office Building and a Front View of the Works 


51 have a record of from 20 to 25 years 

56 » » v » » 1 5 » ” 

54 » » » n » 10 » *5 » 

62 „ » » » » 5 » 10 ” 

Such a record speaks for itself, and represents service 
which could not fail to be an asset to any company. 

On Mr. Reed’s death, his son-in-law, Mr. William B. 
H. Dowse, succeeded to the presidency and active 
management of the business. He found what is so often 

[41 ] 










A CENTURY OF 


SILVERSMITHING 



A View of the Reed & Barton Works , Taken About 1880 


the case, a great business which, in its growth and de¬ 
velopment, had become cramped and congested. To 
facilitate production and provide for necessary expan¬ 
sion, it became necessary to rebuild much of the plant 
and make a number of additions. The efficacy of these 
changes has been demonstrated over a period of years 
by a substantial increase in the volume of business. 

VII 


It is often said that success in a business is usually 
one man’s job, but one hundred years generally covers 
the life of several. An establishment, which has in its 
century of life, been under the guidance of but two men, 
Henry G. Reed, for practically seventy-five years, and 
William B. H. Dowse, for twenty-five, has certainly a 
unique record in American industrial history. Without 
question, this stability and unity of control has been a 


[ 42 ] 


A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


most important factor in the growth and standing which 
the Company has attained. 

During a century of silversmithing there have, of 
course, been many achievements which reflect not only 
to the credit of Reed and Barton, but to the industry as 
a whole. Among such achievements, it will, perhaps, not 
be out of place to mention a few. India has long held 
the Company’s wares in high esteem, and in 1920, after 
a competition, open to silversmiths all over the world, 
Reed and Barton was awarded the commission for a very 
interesting dinner service and other table equipment 



Part of the U. S. S. Arizona Silver Service 


[ 43 ] 




A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


for his Highness, the Maharajah of Barwani. This 
especially designed silver service was made in the style 
of Francis the First, bearing his Highness' crest and 
motto. To go into details regarding the service is, of 
course, beyond the scope of this work. Suffice it to 
say that the whole, comprising over one thousand items 
of silverware and porcelain ware, was most favorably 
received by his Highness, the Maharajah of Barwani, 
and reflected in a marked degree the quality of work of 
which the Reed and Barton organization is capable. Two 
other notable achievements may be selected as types of 
many more,—the silver service made for the battleship 
“Arizona” with the interesting use of the cactus motif, 
and the service made for the battleship “Minnesota” 
where the famous sculptured group located in the city 
hall at Minneapolis, and representing the Father of 
Waters, was used as the inspiration in modeling the 
base of the great punch bowl. Such original and dis¬ 
tinctive treatments, worked out with so much beauty 
and skill, must be counted as real contributions to the 
development of American art. 

In closing it may be well to call attention to the de¬ 
velopment of the so-called hotel business. From the 
earliest days of the Pullman Company and the Wagner 
Palace Car Company, Reed and Barton have furnished 
a large part of the table ware used by both, and for 
some forty or fifty railroads who run their own dining 
cars besides. The great railroad restaurants of the Penn¬ 
sylvania in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, 


[ 44 ] 



A CENTURY OF SILVERSMITHING 


the Grand Central Restaurant in New York, and num¬ 
bers more, both in this country and abroad, are equipped 
with Reed and Barton hotel ware. In addition, many of 
the finest hotels in all parts of the world, including those 
of the great Statler organization, and the famous resorts 
on the Pacific Coast, find in Reed and Barton goods that 
combination of smartness and fashionable appearance 
with substantial service, which meets exacting require¬ 
ments. 

Such is a brief review of the events and achievements 
of a century of silversmithing. We have seen the plant 
grow from small beginnings into a great establishment, 
rooted deep in the history of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts and the United States by its one hun¬ 
dred years of service. We have seen how consistently 
and steadily it has carried out the ideals of its founder 
and successor for the production of articles which have 
been at once beautiful and of high quality for the use 
and pleasure of man. We have glimpsed something of 
the lives spent in faithful performance of duty; of em¬ 
ployer and employee working together to meet the wants 
of the public. Who can tell what achievements lie before 
them in the next one hundred years ? Of one thing we may 
be sure,—that in carrying on the same stable policies 
of the past,—a still greater success lies ahead. 


QJTq) 


[45 1 


c Acknowledgment 


THE AUTHOR IS INDEBTED TO MISS CAROLINE E. 
MACGILL, HISTORIAN, FOR MUCH OF THE MATE- 
RIAL AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF FACTS AS THEY 
ARE GIVEN. CREDIT IS ALSO DUE THE TAUNTON 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND THE BOSTON ATHENEUM 
FOR VALUABLE ASSISTANCE IN PRELIMINARY RE¬ 
SEARCH AND STUDY 


Designed and Printed by 
The Barta Press 
Cambridge, Mass.. U. S. A. 





















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